Welcome to one of the most active flamenco sites on the Internet. Guests can read most posts but if you want to participate click here to register.
This site is dedicated to the memory of Paco de Lucía, Ron Mitchell, Guy Williams, Linda Elvira, Philip John Lee, Craig Eros, Ben Woods, David Serva and Tom Blackshear who went ahead of us.
We receive 12,200 visitors a month from 200 countries and 1.7 million page impressions a year. To advertise on this site please contact us.
Is it only in flamenco that singers can get away with that kind of BS? To be sure I thought the singers in the vid sounded great, but in most styles, coming in in an unmusical place like that would instantly mark someone as a novice.
quote:
ORIGINAL: Ricardo
quote:
ORIGINAL: rogeliocan
In this video, at about 00:52 seconds, is normal for the signer to come in during the llamada? Did she come in a bit early?
Not really a llamada, he was just about to start some round of chords...but grandma don't give a crap. It's pretty normal.
Yeah, in flamenco, singers get away with it - they will come in in the middle of the compas, in the middle of a falseta, whatever. The more professional and polished the singer, the less this will happen, but lots of singers do it. Also, I have had many experiences where they come in in an entirely different key, and I have to go scrambling with a barre until I get a chance to change the cejilla.
I think this is part of the dichotomy that is inherent in flamenco: part family tradition, part professional, and the fact that it is an unwritten oral tradition.
Not to say guitarists are superior or anything, but it is up to us to know what everyone else is doing and to cover for them when they go out of compas, etc. Here is a video of an interview with Justo de Badajoz - son of Manolo de Badajoz - talking about this. This is a great interview with a relatively unknown, but excellent, mid-20th century guitarist; in the first part of the interview, he talks about sneaking to his neighbor - Ramon Montoya - to learn to play (his father didn't want him to play). I was surprised to learn that Ramon Montoya lived just down the block from where my apartment was on C/Olivar in Madrid.
That was a good interview. Man, I wish I had an uncle like that. Imagine that, a retired uncle with all that knowledge and be happy to share it with you every day...
That would be pretty awesome. So basically singers can do whatever they want and it's your responsibility to make it sound ok, but if we mess up we just suck. Oh the burden I like what he said about, to accompany singers you have to be a singer yourself, maybe not out loud but inside. That clicked something in my head for me......
There really was no llamada per se at that point. In response to Mark2's point about that type of thing being BS, I completely disagree. Yes, Los Habichuela are consummate pro's and we guitarists tend to get very very wrapped up in our guitar-centric world.
However, the true beauty and the true magic of flamenco (similar to jazz and blues), is the communal creation of musical expression. This wasn't a concert performance, it was a bunch of old friends jamming in a cave, where they decided to film it. The important takeaway in this video for any guitarist who wants to seriously study flamenco, is how quickly the guitarists picked everything up and adjusted to what the singer did.
I agree to a point with what Lenador said, how there is a lot of pressure on the guitarists to keep everything all together. However, there's one thing: if we screw up, EVERYONE looks bad.
One of the first times I accompanied a singer on my own, it happened to be a lady from a very reputable flamenco family, and I was very nervous. I basically had in my brain, "Just do your best to follow her, and stay more or less in compas, and try not to suck too bad." I hoped I would at least be able to have her sing well and I could maybe hopefully find a chord that worked with what she was singing. To my surprise, she just said, "Eh you play whatever and I'll just sing to that..." WHAT!?!?! So much for the whole, "Always yield to the singer..." adage!
Printable Version
I like what he said about, to accompany singers you have to be a singer yourself, maybe not out loud but inside. That clicked something in my head for me...... 
New Messages
No New Messages
Hot Topic w/ New Messages
Hot Topic w/o New Messages
Locked w/ New Messages
Locked w/o New Messages
Post New Thread